In the annals of Japanese film history, there aren't too many names that can go shoulder-to-shoulder with the great Toshiro Mifune in terms of historical importance, but Haruo Nakajima is definitely one of them--and many wouldn't even recognize his face. That's because the 87-year old actor is most known for his role in kaiju films, particularly as the first actor to portray Godzilla, King of the Monsters, on the big screen. In a feature done by Great Big Story, who has previously covered the first all-female staffed sushi restaurant in Japan, as well as the beautiful world of traditional Japanese sweets, Nakajima explains how he came to be the first Godzilla, and all that came with the task.

While Shin-Gojira (Godzilla: Resurgence) recently showed us a terrifying take on Godzilla, Nakajima reflects on how he came to step inside a 100 kilogram suit that used premixed cement, and rendered him a sweaty mess during filming. After starting out as an extra (who usually died) in films such as Kurosawa's classic Seven Samurai, Nakajima was noticed for his energetic performance in Eagle of the Pacific, and offered a chance to play the King of the Monsters.

As nothing quite like Godzilla had been done before, Nakajima headed to the Tokyo Zoo to study the movements of elephants and gorillas to form an inspiration for the character of the lumbering beast. Nakajima would reprise the role eleven more times, and still cites the role as a personal favorite, and no doubt one that would have a monstrous impact on the Japanese film industry.